Research Question: Which of our three countries (Finland, U.S., and South Korea) does special education the best? Author: Rebecca Lelli
South Korea Citation:
Yoo, Joan P., & Palley, Elizabeth (2014) The diffusion of disability rights policy: a focus on special education in South Korea. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. 14-15.Retrieved on November 15, 2014 from http://www-tandfonline-com.uri.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1080/1034912X.2014.955790 Summary: Special education in South Korea has developed gradually over time. Originally, South Korea created a special education policy because they were pressured to be the U.S. army. Later, they revised the system to fit with international standards for human rights, although this took some time to enforce. This became more enthusiastically enforced as South Korea became a democracy and bettered its economy. Some alterations to the special education laws were made to better fit South Korea culturally, as well as catering to its specific population's needs. However, it is fairly well understood that in South Korea special education is in its infancy, and still has a lot of growing to do. According to the article "Future research is necessary to determine whether the development of South Korea's special education policy...and the inclusion of people with disabilities into the broader South Korean culture". To be brief, South Korean special education has formed itself by looking to other nations for a guideline. Reaction: I was unaware that South Korea had so little to contribute to special ed., but not surprised. After reading The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley, it appeared to me that South Korea was only concerned with the top 5% or so of its students, which certainly does not include those with disabilities. I believe that it is so ingrained in South Korea's culture to strive to be the best that it may take awhile before people of this country truly devote themselves to special education.
Finland Citation: Sunqvist, C., Desiree, V., & Strom, K. (2014, April 15). Consultation in special needs education in Sweden and Finland: A comparative approach. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www-tandfonline-com.uri.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1080/08856257.2014.908022 Summary: This article actually compared the special education systems in Finland and Sweden. These countries are quite similar in their approach, because "Both the Swedish and Finnish school systems rest on ideas of democracy, equality, equity, and inclusion". However, looking specifically at Finland, the system pushes for kids to attend school locally and be adapted into the general education system. There was a change in the law through Finnish National Board of Education in 2011 which emphasized a child's right to have specialized education if they needed it. This was separated into three "levels: general support, enhanced support, and special support". In general support the regular teachers are responsible to provide extra help for a student by changing teaching methods and materials. Enhanced teaching involves the use of guidance counselors, co-teachers, and flexible teaching groups. Special support gives the student an education plan specific to them, and they can be placed in a part time or even full time group. It is required in Finland to have a masters degree in to be a teacher of special education or of general education. The path to be a special education teacher is somewhat different however, because the courses required mostly focus on cognitive disabilities and not on interacting with other professionals. Recently, Finland has been trying to get a students regular teacher and special ed teacher to work together rather then separately. Often the two will not carve out time to meet together and discuss what will be done. Finland's greatest problem in special education is the lack of pupil-free teacher discussion, lack of knowledge of consultation, and lack of support from other teachers and administration. Reaction: I feel that in my experience of looking at special education during my schooling, many of Finland's structure of policy mirrors what was in my school. At first, the teacher would try to handle situations themselves just by teaching a different way. If that did not work, outside help was available, such as teachers to help students in specific subjects they were struggling in (reading or math). A last resort would be that the child had no inclusion within the general classroom, so most often special ed teachers gave them a specialized time outside and then a majority of the time was spent in the regular classroom. I think Finland is trying to do something like this.
The United States Citation: Greulich, L., Al Otaiba, S., Schatschneider, C., Wanzik, J., Ortiz, M., & Wagner, R. (2014, January 1). Understanding inadequate response to first-grade multi-tier intervention: Nomothetic and ideographic perspectives. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=21&sid=150d0c77-f585-4315-8b05-7d3df646bc7a@sessionmgr112&hid=110 Summary: The United States has almost the same structure as Finland, however there is more emphasis on data collection and analysis. This collection and analysis is theoretically supposed to help teachers improve their teaching for more effective learning in special education. For example, a study of first graders included analyzing their "constructs of phonological awareness, vocabulary, untimed reading, fluency, reading, IQ, and teacher judgement about reading, behavior, and attention". This test was conducted in order to discover whether or not these children had learning deficiencies and if early intervention was necessary. The data analysis process is very complicated and obscure, for the article explains "In order to accomplish both of these tasks, and to reduce the number of variables in the model we performed two sets of all-subsets regressions; one all-subsets regressions for the variables that represent initial skills and the other for behavior rating scales". And that was only the beginning. Reaction: This sounds a lot like the over-testing done in regular classrooms and I do not like it. I agree that some testing should be done in order to see if teaching methods are effective and students are improving, but the focus is much to intense. If teachers are always collecting data for various subjects, when do they teach? Special needs kids need time and energy, not data and analysis.
Similar Study Citation: Malinen, O., Savolainin, H., & Engelbrecht, P. (2013, January 1). Exploring teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices in three diverse countries. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0742051X13000267 Summary: This article was a study of special education in China, Finland, and South Africa. In all countries, the researchers found that experience teaching children with disabilities was important to one's self-efficacy. The entire study was based around self-efficacy, or the belief in one's own ability to achieve goals and get things done. Internationally, more and more schools are making inclusion, or the learning of special needs students to occur with the general population of students. This has been found to improve the learning of the entire school because effective special education teaching methods also help other students learn effectively. Chinese special education strives to have special ed students go to regular public schools rather than specialized schools because it improves the learning rate of everyone involved. South Africa still struggles with negative attitudes toward inclusion and in Finland has a large proportion of special education teachers compared to the entire school's population. It has been studied that greater teacher self-efficacy results in a greater effort to get students to succeed. Reaction: I think that this article makes sense in that self esteem has a lot to do with teaching kids with special needs. When dealing with a particularly "difficult" student, it would be easy to just simply give up and consider them unteachable. Special needs kids are less likely to understand directions and more likely to frustrate teachers. But if a teacher is confident in his/her abilities to teach, they are more likely to be persistent and ultimately get the child to succeed.
Opinions Citation: Meyer, L. (2012, January 1). Freedom, fairness, and justice: What now for severe disabilities?: A response to turnbull. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=e917d868-7ddb-44c4-a36b-7939e9066f95@sessionmgr4005&hid=4212 Summary: In the not-so-distant past, special education was almost non-existent. Both children and adults with special needs were put in institutions or if they belonged to rich families they were paid to be taken care of in their own home. A man named Rud Turnbull made significant changes to this in the late 1900s by asserting that these people could be taught and should be taught. Special needs rights are compared to those of racial and gender equality in this article. Often the use of administering electrical shocks occurred to punish bad behavior by the mentally challenged patients in a facility as recently as 2007 and 2012. Turnbull points to the Bill of Rights for proof that it is in our constitution to treat these people well and give them a relatively happy life. We look at America as the "greatest country on earth", and yet other democracies have done better. While we focus on the rights of the individual, countries like New Zealand focus on the "fairness and natural justice". Turnbull calls for equality for those with special needs or disabilities and fairness in how they are treated. Reaction: I was appalled to hear that electrical shocks were still used as punishment for the mentally retarded. How could a modern society, with all its knowledge of psychology, do such a thing? Perhaps it is in our very nature to look down on those people we consider to have less worth than we ourselves do. That would explain racism, sexism, violence, and a multitude of other injustices. I am disappointed that we have not gotten further in the fair treatment of those with special needs, and that physical and emotional abuse has been tolerated up to this point.
Overall Reaction
I was surprised at how recently laws that supported special education were enacted. Not long before I was born it would have been awful to have a disability because there were almost no options for you. Even today, some countries are further along than others. Some support inclusion and uphold a students right to have a quality education no matter their condition. Others, including South Korea, are struggling to make the switch; somehow stuck in the past and unwilling to move forward. For this reason, South Korea does the least well out of the three countries this group has studied in special education. Their constant striving to be the best in the world leaves students with disabilities in the dust, in addition to average students. This leaves Finland and the United States as the two remaining contenders. Its a hard decision, because both countries have almost identical policies regarding special education. However, I feel that Finland has the superior special education system out of the three. Finland forces all teachers to have a master degree, not just special ed. teachers. Finland also does its best to include children in regular classrooms and keep them in local schools so that they have a more normal experience. This prepares children better for the real world.
Rhode Island schools can improve in special education by reducing the amount of data collection, thereby increasing teaching time and actual learning. The state can also have more teachers in special education classrooms to insure that the student, as well as the general population of students, are getting the attention they need. Inclusion should become more widespread and basic human rights more well-known. All this can be done through minor changes in how things are done, none of it needs to be a big upset. The result will be happier and more educated special-needs kids and a more confident staff.
[http://www.sciencedirect.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0742051X13000267] Similar Study
[http://www-tandfonline-com.uri.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1080/08856257.2014.908022] Finland (and Sweden)
[http://web.b.ebscohost.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=21&sid=150d0c77-f585-4315-8b05-7d3df646bc7a%40sessionmgr112&hid=110] United States
{http://web.a.ebscohost.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=e917d868-7ddb-44c4-a36b-7939e9066f95%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4212}
Opinions
Research Question: Which of our three countries (Finland, U.S., and South Korea) does special education the best?
Author: Rebecca Lelli
South Korea
Citation:
Yoo, Joan P., & Palley, Elizabeth (2014) The diffusion of disability rights policy: a focus on special education in South Korea. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education. 14-15.Retrieved on November 15, 2014 from http://www-tandfonline-com.uri.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1080/1034912X.2014.955790
Summary: Special education in South Korea has developed gradually over time. Originally, South Korea created a special education policy because they were pressured to be the U.S. army. Later, they revised the system to fit with international standards for human rights, although this took some time to enforce. This became more enthusiastically enforced as South Korea became a democracy and bettered its economy. Some alterations to the special education laws were made to better fit South Korea culturally, as well as catering to its specific population's needs. However, it is fairly well understood that in South Korea special education is in its infancy, and still has a lot of growing to do. According to the article "Future research is necessary to determine whether the development of South Korea's special education policy...and the inclusion of people with disabilities into the broader South Korean culture". To be brief, South Korean special education has formed itself by looking to other nations for a guideline.
Reaction: I was unaware that South Korea had so little to contribute to special ed., but not surprised. After reading The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley, it appeared to me that South Korea was only concerned with the top 5% or so of its students, which certainly does not include those with disabilities. I believe that it is so ingrained in South Korea's culture to strive to be the best that it may take awhile before people of this country truly devote themselves to special education.
Finland
Citation:
Sunqvist, C., Desiree, V., & Strom, K. (2014, April 15). Consultation in special needs education in Sweden and Finland: A comparative approach. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www-tandfonline-com.uri.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1080/08856257.2014.908022
Summary: This article actually compared the special education systems in Finland and Sweden. These countries are quite similar in their approach, because "Both the Swedish and Finnish school systems rest on ideas of democracy, equality, equity, and inclusion". However, looking specifically at Finland, the system pushes for kids to attend school locally and be adapted into the general education system. There was a change in the law through Finnish National Board of Education in 2011 which emphasized a child's right to have specialized education if they needed it. This was separated into three "levels: general support, enhanced support, and special support". In general support the regular teachers are responsible to provide extra help for a student by changing teaching methods and materials. Enhanced teaching involves the use of guidance counselors, co-teachers, and flexible teaching groups. Special support gives the student an education plan specific to them, and they can be placed in a part time or even full time group. It is required in Finland to have a masters degree in to be a teacher of special education or of general education. The path to be a special education teacher is somewhat different however, because the courses required mostly focus on cognitive disabilities and not on interacting with other professionals. Recently, Finland has been trying to get a students regular teacher and special ed teacher to work together rather then separately. Often the two will not carve out time to meet together and discuss what will be done. Finland's greatest problem in special education is the lack of pupil-free teacher discussion, lack of knowledge of consultation, and lack of support from other teachers and administration.
Reaction: I feel that in my experience of looking at special education during my schooling, many of Finland's structure of policy mirrors what was in my school. At first, the teacher would try to handle situations themselves just by teaching a different way. If that did not work, outside help was available, such as teachers to help students in specific subjects they were struggling in (reading or math). A last resort would be that the child had no inclusion within the general classroom, so most often special ed teachers gave them a specialized time outside and then a majority of the time was spent in the regular classroom. I think Finland is trying to do something like this.
The United States
Citation:
Greulich, L., Al Otaiba, S., Schatschneider, C., Wanzik, J., Ortiz, M., & Wagner, R. (2014, January 1). Understanding inadequate response to first-grade multi-tier intervention: Nomothetic and ideographic perspectives. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=21&sid=150d0c77-f585-4315-8b05-7d3df646bc7a@sessionmgr112&hid=110
Summary: The United States has almost the same structure as Finland, however there is more emphasis on data collection and analysis. This collection and analysis is theoretically supposed to help teachers improve their teaching for more effective learning in special education. For example, a study of first graders included analyzing their "constructs of phonological awareness, vocabulary, untimed reading, fluency, reading, IQ, and teacher judgement about reading, behavior, and attention". This test was conducted in order to discover whether or not these children had learning deficiencies and if early intervention was necessary. The data analysis process is very complicated and obscure, for the article explains "In order to accomplish both of these tasks, and to reduce the number of variables in the model we performed two sets of all-subsets regressions; one all-subsets regressions for the variables that represent initial skills and the other for behavior rating scales". And that was only the beginning.
Reaction: This sounds a lot like the over-testing done in regular classrooms and I do not like it. I agree that some testing should be done in order to see if teaching methods are effective and students are improving, but the focus is much to intense. If teachers are always collecting data for various subjects, when do they teach? Special needs kids need time and energy, not data and analysis.
Similar Study
Citation:
Malinen, O., Savolainin, H., & Engelbrecht, P. (2013, January 1). Exploring teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices in three diverse countries. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0742051X13000267
Summary: This article was a study of special education in China, Finland, and South Africa. In all countries, the researchers found that experience teaching children with disabilities was important to one's self-efficacy. The entire study was based around self-efficacy, or the belief in one's own ability to achieve goals and get things done. Internationally, more and more schools are making inclusion, or the learning of special needs students to occur with the general population of students. This has been found to improve the learning of the entire school because effective special education teaching methods also help other students learn effectively. Chinese special education strives to have special ed students go to regular public schools rather than specialized schools because it improves the learning rate of everyone involved. South Africa still struggles with negative attitudes toward inclusion and in Finland has a large proportion of special education teachers compared to the entire school's population. It has been studied that greater teacher self-efficacy results in a greater effort to get students to succeed.
Reaction: I think that this article makes sense in that self esteem has a lot to do with teaching kids with special needs. When dealing with a particularly "difficult" student, it would be easy to just simply give up and consider them unteachable. Special needs kids are less likely to understand directions and more likely to frustrate teachers. But if a teacher is confident in his/her abilities to teach, they are more likely to be persistent and ultimately get the child to succeed.
Opinions
Citation:
Meyer, L. (2012, January 1). Freedom, fairness, and justice: What now for severe disabilities?: A response to turnbull. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.uri.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=e917d868-7ddb-44c4-a36b-7939e9066f95@sessionmgr4005&hid=4212
Summary: In the not-so-distant past, special education was almost non-existent. Both children and adults with special needs were put in institutions or if they belonged to rich families they were paid to be taken care of in their own home. A man named Rud Turnbull made significant changes to this in the late 1900s by asserting that these people could be taught and should be taught. Special needs rights are compared to those of racial and gender equality in this article. Often the use of administering electrical shocks occurred to punish bad behavior by the mentally challenged patients in a facility as recently as 2007 and 2012. Turnbull points to the Bill of Rights for proof that it is in our constitution to treat these people well and give them a relatively happy life. We look at America as the "greatest country on earth", and yet other democracies have done better. While we focus on the rights of the individual, countries like New Zealand focus on the "fairness and natural justice". Turnbull calls for equality for those with special needs or disabilities and fairness in how they are treated.
Reaction: I was appalled to hear that electrical shocks were still used as punishment for the mentally retarded. How could a modern society, with all its knowledge of psychology, do such a thing? Perhaps it is in our very nature to look down on those people we consider to have less worth than we ourselves do. That would explain racism, sexism, violence, and a multitude of other injustices. I am disappointed that we have not gotten further in the fair treatment of those with special needs, and that physical and emotional abuse has been tolerated up to this point.
Overall Reaction
I was surprised at how recently laws that supported special education were enacted. Not long before I was born it would have been awful to have a disability because there were almost no options for you. Even today, some countries are further along than others. Some support inclusion and uphold a students right to have a quality education no matter their condition. Others, including South Korea, are struggling to make the switch; somehow stuck in the past and unwilling to move forward. For this reason, South Korea does the least well out of the three countries this group has studied in special education. Their constant striving to be the best in the world leaves students with disabilities in the dust, in addition to average students. This leaves Finland and the United States as the two remaining contenders. Its a hard decision, because both countries have almost identical policies regarding special education. However, I feel that Finland has the superior special education system out of the three. Finland forces all teachers to have a master degree, not just special ed. teachers. Finland also does its best to include children in regular classrooms and keep them in local schools so that they have a more normal experience. This prepares children better for the real world.
Rhode Island schools can improve in special education by reducing the amount of data collection, thereby increasing teaching time and actual learning. The state can also have more teachers in special education classrooms to insure that the student, as well as the general population of students, are getting the attention they need. Inclusion should become more widespread and basic human rights more well-known. All this can be done through minor changes in how things are done, none of it needs to be a big upset. The result will be happier and more educated special-needs kids and a more confident staff.